How to Stretch a Shirt (a mini-series)

A while ago, I found a long sleeved white and yellow striped t-shirt at a thrift store for one dollar.  ONE DOLLAR.  I fell in love and snatched it up.  I fell in love with it, not for what it was, but for what it COULD BE.  See, I had found this tutorial on Made by Rae, and knew I had to make about 65 pairs for mini.  Therefore, I needed some super stretchy, cute, fun-colored tops.  And this one fit the bill.  (have I mentioned that my favorite color is yellow?  I made her these yellow tights here also using this tutorial).

Anyway, with the aforementioned tutorial in mind, I paid for this gem and took it home.  It took me a while to get around to it, but I finally started work on the baby tights Rae shows how to make.  As I was lining up my pattern piece, I thought to myself, “hm.  it’s summer.  how often will she actually wear tights right now?  I should make these leggings instead!”  and that’s just what I did.  But first, I had to cut them out.

Well, when I finished cutting them out, I realized I had a whole lot of shirt left over.  And because I was so fond of it, I just couldn’t let it go to waste.  “I could make some leg warmers,” I thought. “No, I could make some bloomers!”  

That’s when I had the brilliant idea: Why not make BOTH?  In fact, why not make AS MANY THINGS AS I POSSIBLY COULD from this ONE shirt?  Wouldn’t that be fun?!?

I would like to introduce to you:

I’ll be showing you different projects with this one little shirt over the next week or so. (with a few possible interruptions)

If you’re like me and find your shirt at a thrift store, you can make all of these projects for only ONE DOLLAR! (and some materials you have on hand)  OR, if you’re even BETTER than me, you can use a shirt you already have on hand and make all of these projects for FREE!!!  

Now, I, unfortunately, was so excited to hop right into the refashioning that I failed to take a picture of the t-shirt before I started cutting it up.  But I know you can use your imaginations because a long sleeved t is something we’ve all encountered.  I’ll give you some specs so you can pick one that’s similar:

My shirt was:

white and yellow skinny stripes

long sleeved

crew neck

stretchy (made out of nylon/cotton/lycra)

Size XL Women’s

Be sure to stop back later for the very first idea!

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